Here were the first drawings we saw:
Then we look over at Seth as he pops his marker cap back on and proudly exclaims: "There! My face looks ALL done...!"
:-D
Hahaha!
Tuesday, March 29
Funny Drawing
So Matt and I taught preschool yesterday (always a bonus when Matt can teach with me :)) and had a really funny moment—a moment when we realized, again, that our kid is just plain hilarious. (Well, to us, at least! ;-)) The topic I picked for my rotation this time around is: my mouth. My three lesson days are the sub-themes: teeth and dental hygiene, nutrition, and communication. Yesterday we started with teeth. We busted out big ol' butcher paper and traced the kids with the thought that they'll decorate these drawings throughout the lessons. Step one, yesterday: draw your face on there, and don't forget your mouth and teeth!
Here were the first drawings we saw:
Then we look over at Seth as he pops his marker cap back on and proudly exclaims: "There! My face looks ALL done...!"
:-D
Hahaha!
Here were the first drawings we saw:
Then we look over at Seth as he pops his marker cap back on and proudly exclaims: "There! My face looks ALL done...!"
:-D
Hahaha!
Monday, March 28
Grumpy Monster
Seth has occasional episodes of extreme grumpiness. Most of the time, he's his normal ol' happy self. Some of the time, he's ridiculously happy. And some of the time, he's a total grump! Part of the problem is that he's an INTP, like Matt, and honest-to-goodness cannot relate one bit to the concept of an "authority figure." We are peers, through and through. It's hilarious! Also...it will never change.... (I know this because I know Matt. Haha! :)) We just hope to be able to appeal to his sense of reason often enough to teach him something. "Because I said so" is never, ever, not EVER going to work. Not even with punishment—he'll just take it in stride. Just ask Matt's parents. ;-)
So here's an example of a grumpface conversation with Seth:
Seth: Can I watch a Wonder Pets, please?
Us: No, sorry, no TV right now.
Seth: WHY?!!
Us: Because we don't want to watch a lot of TV.
Seth: IF YOU DON'T LET ME WATCH WONDER PETS, THEN YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE CONSEQUENCES. SO I SUGGEST YOU LET ME WATCH IT! RIGHT! NOW! [Hahaha!]
Us: Seth, see? Wonder Pets is making you talk meanly. It's ok to be disappointed. It's not ok to be mean. You need to calm down and talk nicely.
Seth: I am very MAD at you! If YOU don't let me watch Wonder Pets, then you can NEVER watch ANY tv. AT. ALL.
At which point, I can't often resist saying something like, "oh, ok. Who is going to stop me?!" (Haha! Ok, not that bad.) It will mean nothing to him, but I sometimes say things like, "hey, I'm the mom, and you're the little boy...." Pointless. :-)
Anyway, Seth does relate to our reasoning—sometimes it helps him learn things, but sometimes he just turns it right back on us. It's hilarious. He really, truly, honestly thinks we're all on level ground together. Not because he's at all insubordinate; just because it's his innate view. (He really is a little Matt. I love it.... :))
This whole story is just to be able to show a couple of pictures that have been cracking me up all day! I was with some ladies the other day who were all talking about kid challenges, and one of them mentioned taking her 6-year-old to therapy to confront some anger issues. The therapist made the girl name her "Angry Monster." There was a chart on the wall at home. Every time she was asked to do something, a point went to her, or it went to her Angry Monster, depending on her response. He challenged her to not let her Angry Monster beat her! She had to win!
I thought that sounded totally brilliant. The mom said her little girl—who had been throwing tantrums her whole life—totally changed in a matter of weeks. She really could see how frequently she was giving over her control to her anger, and that she had the power to beat this. Brilliant...!
We decided to try this with Seth. He named his "Grumpy Monster." It's very creative: Grumpy. Hahaha! (I think it started out "Grumpies," which is kind of cute, but it morphed to "Grumpy.") We've been talking about it a few days, and today I finally made a chart. My initial inclination was to put a picture of Seth versus a creative picture of "a Grumpy Monster," but then I realized that I wanted him to see what we see when he's grumpy. It worked! He was completely taken aback when he saw the picture of Grumpy. All day he's been trying to get me to change it to one of the drawings he brings me of the Grumpy Monster. (Ha! I win!) I catch him staring at the two pictures sometimes, and if I ask him who he wants to be, he's pretty emphatic that he wants to be Seth, not Grumpy. He's been fantastic all night...! Happy as can be. Will it last...? It might be a fluke. I mean, this kid is happy most of the time anyway.... But maybe it has something to do with these two great pictures! And, really, which one would you want to be?! Hahaha!!
Hahahahaha!!! Will it ruin everything if he catches on to me that when I'm totally delighted and laughing, it's over Grumpy's photo? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I adore this kid. There are no words.... :-)
So here's an example of a grumpface conversation with Seth:
Seth: Can I watch a Wonder Pets, please?
Us: No, sorry, no TV right now.
Seth: WHY?!!
Us: Because we don't want to watch a lot of TV.
Seth: IF YOU DON'T LET ME WATCH WONDER PETS, THEN YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE CONSEQUENCES. SO I SUGGEST YOU LET ME WATCH IT! RIGHT! NOW! [Hahaha!]
Us: Seth, see? Wonder Pets is making you talk meanly. It's ok to be disappointed. It's not ok to be mean. You need to calm down and talk nicely.
Seth: I am very MAD at you! If YOU don't let me watch Wonder Pets, then you can NEVER watch ANY tv. AT. ALL.
At which point, I can't often resist saying something like, "oh, ok. Who is going to stop me?!" (Haha! Ok, not that bad.) It will mean nothing to him, but I sometimes say things like, "hey, I'm the mom, and you're the little boy...." Pointless. :-)
Anyway, Seth does relate to our reasoning—sometimes it helps him learn things, but sometimes he just turns it right back on us. It's hilarious. He really, truly, honestly thinks we're all on level ground together. Not because he's at all insubordinate; just because it's his innate view. (He really is a little Matt. I love it.... :))
This whole story is just to be able to show a couple of pictures that have been cracking me up all day! I was with some ladies the other day who were all talking about kid challenges, and one of them mentioned taking her 6-year-old to therapy to confront some anger issues. The therapist made the girl name her "Angry Monster." There was a chart on the wall at home. Every time she was asked to do something, a point went to her, or it went to her Angry Monster, depending on her response. He challenged her to not let her Angry Monster beat her! She had to win!
I thought that sounded totally brilliant. The mom said her little girl—who had been throwing tantrums her whole life—totally changed in a matter of weeks. She really could see how frequently she was giving over her control to her anger, and that she had the power to beat this. Brilliant...!
We decided to try this with Seth. He named his "Grumpy Monster." It's very creative: Grumpy. Hahaha! (I think it started out "Grumpies," which is kind of cute, but it morphed to "Grumpy.") We've been talking about it a few days, and today I finally made a chart. My initial inclination was to put a picture of Seth versus a creative picture of "a Grumpy Monster," but then I realized that I wanted him to see what we see when he's grumpy. It worked! He was completely taken aback when he saw the picture of Grumpy. All day he's been trying to get me to change it to one of the drawings he brings me of the Grumpy Monster. (Ha! I win!) I catch him staring at the two pictures sometimes, and if I ask him who he wants to be, he's pretty emphatic that he wants to be Seth, not Grumpy. He's been fantastic all night...! Happy as can be. Will it last...? It might be a fluke. I mean, this kid is happy most of the time anyway.... But maybe it has something to do with these two great pictures! And, really, which one would you want to be?! Hahaha!!
Hahahahaha!!! Will it ruin everything if he catches on to me that when I'm totally delighted and laughing, it's over Grumpy's photo? HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I adore this kid. There are no words.... :-)
Wednesday, March 16
Wednesday, March 9
Stressed?
Want to know how to reverse it?!
One word: desserts.
No, really. It's the reverse. Don't EVEN try to say it's not because, look! It is! I need more chocolate....
One word: desserts.
No, really. It's the reverse. Don't EVEN try to say it's not because, look! It is! I need more chocolate....
Friday, March 4
Yayyyy 30!
Anyone who has asked me about it knows that I have been way, super-duper excited to turn 30. I've been looking forward to it for years!
It's just been sort of . . . embarrassing . . . the last few years to . . . admit to my age.
Still in my 20's? You kidding me?
Still in my 20's? You kidding me?
Would they never end?!!!! ;-)
I remember my friend, Amy, mentioning her sister's observation that: "You know the picture in your mind when you think of yourself as an adult? That's your thirties! They're the best!" I realized this must be true. And somewhere along the line, I also realized I was ready to not be a juvenile 20-something anymore. Ready to move on! Own it, baby! Own it! Woooooo hoooooo!!! Thirty!
(I haven't outgrown my juvenile shouting.... ;-))
(I haven't outgrown my juvenile shouting.... ;-))
In honor of achieving the birthday to which I've looked forward so long, I thought I'd document the mood of all the birthdays I remember. It's a little bit funny to look back and remember a distinct excitement (or not) for each one, and why. And since 30 isn't actually that adult, listing all my birthdays just doesn't take very long....
I'll start with not the first birthday I can remember, but the first when I actually cared about the age I was turning. Eight!
8—Super excitement. I felt old and cool.
9—A little bummed to not be 10, but a little excited to be that much closer.
10—SUPER excitement! I still remember everyone in my class (they were all one or two years older than myself) actually seeming excited for me. "How's it feel to be double-digits?" Oh boy. Like I was on top of the world. (Interesting: just now I was thinking about talking with everyone about my birthday, and remembered standing near class with everyone talking about, whoa, being at war! I looked it up: the war actually did start that week!)
11—Already looking forward to 12.
12—WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!
13—I'm a TEENAGER!! YES!!! A teen! I could already see myself being 16 and kissing boys.
14—Eh.
15—Driving permit, baby!! (And, since I was the youngest in my class, I actually did get my permit right after my birthday. Very, very, very cool.)
16—Oh boy. THE. Best. Birthday. EVER. (Even though my super-moral me had sworn off kissing. Hehe. And even though I wasn't the 5'10" blonde I'd always pictured for my 16-year-old self. Hahaha!)
17—It seems impossible, but I'm pretty sure I was even more excited about 17 than I had been about 16. I was graduating from high school this year and going off to college. And maybe something inside knew I'd meet Matt that year.... :)
18—Eh. I liked being a 17-year-old college student better. Plus, I had Mono. (No, not from kissing. ;-))
19—I was excited about that one, but my family might not have believed it. I left a series of messages on their voicemail playing "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission" and other missionary tunes in a minor key with sounds of wailing. Haha! If I were male, I'd have been in the MTC that week, starting a mission. It was my dream.
20—Kristin decorated the London Centre with happy birthday signs! Then she helped me get home when I felt totally sick at the Tower of London. Best of times and worst of times! As far as the number is concerned, I was not all that happy about it. I was studying psychology at the time and was overly amused at being classified as an "adolescent." At 20, I was an adult. That sounded too normal. I wanted to be weird. ;-)
21—WAY excited to turn 21! And I wrote in my journal: "Now I don't have to be too embarrassed that Matt and I are seriously dating." Haha!
22—Now I didn't have to be too embarrassed that I was newly married. (Although, with a little hindsight I realize, whoa! 22 is still SUPER young!)
23—Thought it was very aesthetic.
24—GOLDEN YEAR, baby!!! I had been looking forward to it since I was a child and had first heard of a "golden year." (Your "golden birthday" is when your day of birth and your age are the same number.)
25—Sad to see my golden year end, happy that it had ended so happily with miraculously getting pregnant with Seth. Also happy that 25 sounded more "legit" than the early-20's. My suspicion was confirmed when some ladies at work were hassling me: "Ohhhh.... It's your birthday. What are you, like twenty-three? Twenty-four? Ooooohhh...." I laughed and said, "25." And—no joke!—they all went, "oh, ok! Happy Birthday!" New respect was in their eyes, I could tell. Hahahaha!!
26—Eh. Not aesthetic. Kind of blah.
27—I thought 27 sounded AWESOME. I still do.
28—Eh. I really wished I were turning 30. Or staying 27. But 28 just sounded blah.
29—Even more disappointing than 28! Let me be 30 already!!
And then there was 30, which was the most eagerly-anticipated since...well, since my Golden Birthday. :)
Funnily enough, I was too tired on my 30th birthday to do much of anything. An omen of the decade to come? Hahaha!! Even funnier, I just didn't care that I was too tired. I thought, "woo hoo, 30! Now let me sleep...." And I was totally happy with that.
Time can only tell how I'll feel about 40, but for now I'm still thinking that getting older is good stuff.
I'll start with not the first birthday I can remember, but the first when I actually cared about the age I was turning. Eight!
8—Super excitement. I felt old and cool.
9—A little bummed to not be 10, but a little excited to be that much closer.
10—SUPER excitement! I still remember everyone in my class (they were all one or two years older than myself) actually seeming excited for me. "How's it feel to be double-digits?" Oh boy. Like I was on top of the world. (Interesting: just now I was thinking about talking with everyone about my birthday, and remembered standing near class with everyone talking about, whoa, being at war! I looked it up: the war actually did start that week!)
11—Already looking forward to 12.
12—WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!
13—I'm a TEENAGER!! YES!!! A teen! I could already see myself being 16 and kissing boys.
14—Eh.
15—Driving permit, baby!! (And, since I was the youngest in my class, I actually did get my permit right after my birthday. Very, very, very cool.)
16—Oh boy. THE. Best. Birthday. EVER. (Even though my super-moral me had sworn off kissing. Hehe. And even though I wasn't the 5'10" blonde I'd always pictured for my 16-year-old self. Hahaha!)
17—It seems impossible, but I'm pretty sure I was even more excited about 17 than I had been about 16. I was graduating from high school this year and going off to college. And maybe something inside knew I'd meet Matt that year.... :)
18—Eh. I liked being a 17-year-old college student better. Plus, I had Mono. (No, not from kissing. ;-))
19—I was excited about that one, but my family might not have believed it. I left a series of messages on their voicemail playing "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission" and other missionary tunes in a minor key with sounds of wailing. Haha! If I were male, I'd have been in the MTC that week, starting a mission. It was my dream.
20—Kristin decorated the London Centre with happy birthday signs! Then she helped me get home when I felt totally sick at the Tower of London. Best of times and worst of times! As far as the number is concerned, I was not all that happy about it. I was studying psychology at the time and was overly amused at being classified as an "adolescent." At 20, I was an adult. That sounded too normal. I wanted to be weird. ;-)
21—WAY excited to turn 21! And I wrote in my journal: "Now I don't have to be too embarrassed that Matt and I are seriously dating." Haha!
22—Now I didn't have to be too embarrassed that I was newly married. (Although, with a little hindsight I realize, whoa! 22 is still SUPER young!)
23—Thought it was very aesthetic.
24—GOLDEN YEAR, baby!!! I had been looking forward to it since I was a child and had first heard of a "golden year." (Your "golden birthday" is when your day of birth and your age are the same number.)
25—Sad to see my golden year end, happy that it had ended so happily with miraculously getting pregnant with Seth. Also happy that 25 sounded more "legit" than the early-20's. My suspicion was confirmed when some ladies at work were hassling me: "Ohhhh.... It's your birthday. What are you, like twenty-three? Twenty-four? Ooooohhh...." I laughed and said, "25." And—no joke!—they all went, "oh, ok! Happy Birthday!" New respect was in their eyes, I could tell. Hahahaha!!
26—Eh. Not aesthetic. Kind of blah.
27—I thought 27 sounded AWESOME. I still do.
28—Eh. I really wished I were turning 30. Or staying 27. But 28 just sounded blah.
29—Even more disappointing than 28! Let me be 30 already!!
And then there was 30, which was the most eagerly-anticipated since...well, since my Golden Birthday. :)
Funnily enough, I was too tired on my 30th birthday to do much of anything. An omen of the decade to come? Hahaha!! Even funnier, I just didn't care that I was too tired. I thought, "woo hoo, 30! Now let me sleep...." And I was totally happy with that.
Time can only tell how I'll feel about 40, but for now I'm still thinking that getting older is good stuff.
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